Our Encounter
by MangoMania
Summary: Kiefer and Rin's second meeting; two people with entirely different goals but one.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own Rideback. I wish I could though…

Rideback is an AWESOME anime with a capital A and I loved it so much I did a fanfic about it, though it's just ideas on what the characters were thinking during episode interaction is between Rin and Kiefer, since I think their relationship is interesting to write about.

* * *

The last thing she had remembered was being frightened and darkness and someone reaching out for her, grabbing her and-

-but, as she woke up, a faint sunlight greeted her and she had to blink before she could focuse her eyes on anything. She blinked once again.

Butterflies.

Suddenly she realized that this were not where she was supposed to be. This was not her cell in the prison, nor the truck's trunk. Her senses were now on high alarm and as she heard something coming from the front, she quickly shifted her gaze towards it and found none other than the mysterious man from her escape, slowly coming towards her.

* * *

He smiled somewhat at her questioning look and could almost discern something dangerous flashing across her eyes at the sight of his a doubt, she had the same fire as he – their eyes, searching for something that they themselves could not compensate for.

RideBack.

He felt himself smirk and continued his slow walk, bringing him closer to the girl seated at the chair. Her wide-open eyes looked up at him behind long, dark lashes and he found himself somewhat intrigued by those chocolate-brown eyes. He'd always had a fascination with eyes like that, so... innocent.

After their meeting during the BMP's operation he had longed to see her, to measure her and see her caliber.

"You are..."

His smirk grew larger at her recognizing him and his lemon-colored eyes looked down at her with a slightly fanatic look about them.

"We meet again."

* * *

A gasp slipped out of her mouth and she furrowed her brows in determination to find out who this man was.

_"Don't you fly?"_

Fly? _She could, at one point in her life_ (remembering how it felt, that brilliant light), _but as quickly as she had gained it, it had left her, leaving her broken and with clipped wings._

_She had lost the ability long ago._

_A missile coming towards her made her flinch out of the vision._

_"What?", she heard herself ask._

Yes, why?

_However, there was no time to think. Quickly spinning the wheels out of instinct she drove forward into the sky with flames chasing after her._

_BOOM!_

Each one remembering the events up till now, they stared at each other, speechless for a moment until Kiefer decided to break the silence.

"You look dissatisfied," he said with a hint of taunting in his voice. "Wouldn't it be better if you were moved to the GGP's?"

GGP... What an interesting choice of subject. She thought he would've asked her more about Fuego, though he only seemed to be interested in her opinion right now.

Strange.

She looked the other way.

"Just who are you?" she asked in a (relatively) composed voice. She didn't want to show him how frightened she actually was, and for some odd reason her body obeyed her and the feeling of an almost absurd aura of calmness surrounded her.

Though, of course the fear did not go away. She could still feel it after all - still those _eyes _were looking at her, observing her.

"My name is Kiefer... I'm with the terrorists."

It was said with an ironical tone, one which did not think she would pose any threat whatsoever.

Tch.

"What are you, Ogata Rin?"

At the call of her name, she gazed at him.

Who indeed? The ballet dancer who chickened out when she was unable to fulfill her quest to chase after her mother or the crazy Rideback girl who did not fear either the GGP or the terrorists? Or should she just answer Ogata Rin, student and with the best friend in the whole world, whom she cherished over everything else?

She did not know and therefore she didn't man, now known as Kiefer, continued his musings over her actions during the past days.

"Not only did you break through the GGP's barricade, but you also toyed around with the police's special vehicles..."

Toyed? She never noticed. She were just dancing, free as the wind towards that brilliant light...

"The Mystical Rideback Girl," he concluded his survey of her.

Once again evading his stare, Rin focused it on the floor this time.

"It wasn't like that," she defended herself. "I was just trying to save people."

Or rather, one person... her best friend. But perhaps this so-called 'terrorist' couldn't understand such emotions. He seemed cold enough for that.

"Wrong."

"Eh?" she looked up at him (wrong about that you're cold or that she was trying to save people, she wondered, before she realized he couldn't hear her thoughts), trying to decipher his cryptic smirk but to none avail.

It was like reading a foreign language; you could imagine how the words would be said, but you did not understand what lay beneath them, what they _meant_. It was all but a charade. A charade that was played with utmost confidence, and where only the best player's were allowed.

She swallowed.

"When you are on Fuego, nothing can constrain you."

He blinked and she started to listen once more when she heard Fuego's name being said.

"In the blessings of light, your desire has changed."

Desire... huh? It was long ago she had something like that, something she'd already given up. Or rather, it had given up on her. She wasn't cut for the challenge, it seemed. Words like 'impossible' and 'over' filled her mind, bringing with them a sense of hopeless feelings that she should've gotten rid of long ago. At the sensation of all these new, chaotic feelings she directed her anger towards the man in front of her.

Stupid guy, bringing up all this stuff! Why couldn't he just leave her alone?

His eyes were staring intently at her, those damn interested eyes enough to leave her blood boil. Even though most people didn't know it, Rin had an awful temper that she rarely let out. Only in times of extreme emotions she showed them – they overflowed and broke free from their cages.

She'd never learned how to stop keeping them in, after all.

Giving a quick glance at the floor she darted her eyes towards him and a defiant, but most of all furious look took over her features.

"How did you know so much about it?"

She had not screamed out loud, but on the inside she had cried herself out hoarse. Her cage had muffled her voice just enough so that only a tiny bit of emotion would seep through. However, her eyes could not lie and her soul was like twisted in two, desire to keep _it_ in and to let it _out_.

He merely blinked, though he must've seen the distraught look in her eyes.

"Because I'm also the same as you." It could almost be called a soothing voice, but for Rin it symbolized a link between them.

A _similarity._

And at that moment, she understood perfectly well what he meant and the nature of his behaviour, but also one truth about herself;she truly was the same as he and he had just brought it, _forced_ it out, out just by all those questions and with it her true self, her true desire.

That was why she now with wide-opened eyes stared up in his, her insides in turmoil.

He bowed down and quietly released her from her chains. She felt his warmth on her hands and wondered what he thought about her now that she'd let him see everything there was to know about her.

Did he just value her as a good rider or did he ma-

She didn't let herself finish that silent question of hers and continued to study handcuffs clattered against the floor with a sharp sound before they lay absolutely still. Kiefer, as if being burned, immediately stood up with a hardened look on his face.

"You are free. Someone's soon here to pick you up. Feel free to do anything in the meanwhile."

And with that, he turned around and left without a single word of goodbye or any hopes of her seeing him again.

Yare, yare, Rin, she thought. It's impossible, and besides, why should I care?

But she could not stop herself from gazing at him longingly right up until the moment his strong back disappeared and the hinges creaked, leaving the door open for her to come after him.

And without a second thought, she followed.

* * *

Thank you for reading. I really appreciate it, even if you don't review :)


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